Temperature sensors used in semiconductor liquid applications generally have direct contact with the fluid from where the temperature measurements are taken. Conventionally, a probe is installed using a mechanical seal such as an o-ring or a standard fluid fitting to generate a radial seal with the shaft of the probe. The tip of the probe extends into the fluid path or remains in a stagnant side chamber to be able to read the temperature of the fluid.
A probe style temperature sensor may also have a thermal mass associated with it. This thermal mass generally results in a time delay. As the probe is exposed to different temperatures, the thermal mass of the probe has to equilibrate to the temperature change resulting in a slowed response time. To improve chemical compatibility, some probe style temperature sensors may be coated with a perfluoropolymer coating. However, this coating causes two critical issues for suppliers. First, the coating is permeable causing the metal probe to degrade quickly in aggressive chemical applications so the device has to be changed-out frequently. Second, the coating adds another layer of thermal mass further slowing down the responsiveness of the device.